Providing social media marketing services for remote clients is entirely possible.  The job gives us freedom to move, travel, and become digital nomads if we’re prepared and have systems in place.  

From three miles off the shore of Lake Michigan, I welcomed guests to a restaurant in Missouri.  Guests checked in on Facebook while waiting for their dinner as I was out trying to catch mine.  It isn’t a bad gig at all: social media management while traveling...and perhaps trolling for salmon.  The two are actually more similar than you might think, but that’s a topic for another blog post.  

Here are some tips I’ve learned through the years for how to best serve your remote clients.

Stay on top of news in their area.  Follow all things related to their locale and the customers they serve in case you need to react to unfortunate news, or see an opportunity to align with a story or trend.  Through social media and Google Alerts, follow:

Local news networks

Local chamber

Tourism bureau

Schools in their community

Local weather

Sports teams

Community events 

Local bloggers 

Local hashtags

Your client’s vendors and partners

You may need to shift content during a big weather event or other community news.  For this reason, scheduled posts aren’t part of a ‘set it and forget it’ plan. Stay aware of your content calendar and be ready to reschedule, reword or cancel posts.  

Watch for opportunities from the other accounts you follow. This practice can pay off big! For example, by learning of a travel blogger’s upcoming plans to visit my client’s region, we were able to connect ahead of time and secure a spot on their itinerary.  My client’s business was showcased on their blog and social media pages, which greatly increased awareness.  Marketing Connection has a blog post written for reaching out to bloggers and influencers if you would like to learn more.

Make yourself available and stay on top of the client’s mind.  Schedule trips to visit.  If you’re traveling, are you able to arrange a side trip to see them?  If you can’t physically visit, make sure to show your face or let them hear your voice so they feel like you are part of their daily business.  There are so many tools for video calls, audio notes, messaging, team collaboration, file storage, and mobile phone screen mirroring.  Samsung Flow has worked well for sharing my mobile device during Instagram tutorials.   

Consider bringing on a local partner to help you manage the account.  For content, find an ally in their area such as an influencer, an engaged employee, a vendor, a loyal customer, a photographer or videographer - extra points if they use your client’s products or services so you can set up a trade!  Help them learn how to supply and store short form videos and photos with tools such as Dropbox. Provide guides for producing content in the formats that work best on the client’s social platforms.

Utilize the SAVE feature on Instagram and other platforms to start a collection of creative posts from other accounts that catch your eye.  Revisit the collection at a later date to check the engagement levels and evaluate if the post seemed to work well for the external brand. Use these as inspiration for upcoming content, while putting your own spin on them. 

When you need new material and can’t be at their business, see if your client is comfortable being recorded. This can be audio-only if they prefer not to be on camera.  Set up an interview style meeting with them, like a “Q & A” with the owner.  Clips or quotes from this “Q & A” session can be used in your posts. You can also strip the audio and turn it into a blog post.   

What if you are currently local and have plans to move away?  To retain the account, convince your client that remote work is possible and can be seamless.  Stay updated on technology that will help make the transition easy and familiarize them with the tools before you leave.  Make them aware that starting over with a different social media manager would require time, effort and resources on their part. Show them that it’s better to continue working together.  You have the benefit of business history and applied knowledge.  You’ve been testing processes and dialing in on effective methods to reach their goals. You’ve learned their voice. Another benefit from being in a different locale is that you can watch other brands in a similar industry and incorporate what seems to be working well for them in your own work.  Do great work and always over deliver so your client will want to keep you on their team.

Going remote allows you to become a connector.  In my personal experience, having the unique opportunity to be immersed in several markets and communities expanded my network.  As you travel from place to place, you often have the opportunity to facilitate unique connections between different members of your network.  Plus, I left each community armed with more observations, ideas, and inspiration for how to best do my work.

How to secure remote clients?  The easiest way is to approach a client in the same industry as one of your past clients.  Make sure to demonstrate your successes.  Usually competition isn’t an issue, but it also doesn’t hurt to do some research on their local and regional competitors.  Potential clients like to hear that you're familiar with their niche, you’ve worked out some bugs and can already recreate what worked well.

While these tips are certainly not all encompassing, I hope they provide you with new ideas and the confidence needed to expand your social media marketing business.  

I'd like to hear your tips for working remotely!  Leave your favorite remote working tips and tricks in the comments below.  Also, make sure to share your dream work destination! 

Marketing Connection has over nine years of experience providing premier and seamless remote services for a wide variety of clients.  We welcome the opportunity to help you connect your dot.coms!  

Let’s get started!